Time for a Fresh Look at Hyperconverged Infrastructure

The timing has never been better for hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI).

Customers are facing a confluence of challenges that HCI is well-suited to address. Many are racing to modernize their IT environments to enable the adoption of AI and other advanced applications. They need greater flexibility and scalability to support growing numbers of users and devices. They're pushing applications and services out to the network edge and repatriating cloud workloads. At the same time, the persistent IT talent shortage makes it hard to hire staff with the skills to    manage increasingly complex infrastructure.

HCI is a mature technology that's been around for more than two decades. Its many benefits, including reduced costs and complexity and seamless scalability, are well-documented. However, HCI has been pigeonholed into a handful of use cases, such as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and disaster recovery.

Now's the time to re-evaluate HCI and show customers new ways to capitalize on its advantages.

Reducing Management Complexity

The traditional IT architecture has long created management headaches for organizations of all sizes. Servers, storage devices and network gear are deployed and configured independently and managed manually by specialists. This siloed IT environment quickly becomes unsustainable as more boxes are added.

HCI solutions tightly integrate compute, storage and network resources into one highly virtualized solution. The design of HCI is simpler than legacy infrastructure, making HCI easier to deploy. IT resources are delivered through the same x86 server resources and managed through one console. HCI also enables high levels of automation — a top investment priority for IT leaders, according to Foundry's 2024 State of the CIO survey (registration required).

Increasing Scalability

Although server virtualization provides greater flexibility and resource utilization, it doesn't address the need for seamless scalability. Virtual machines (VMs) can be spun up and moved on demand, but changes to storage and networking require days or weeks. That's a major drag on operations at a time when IT teams need to respond rapidly to increasing demand.

HCI delivers shared pools of resources through clusters of nodes. When it's time to expand capacity, simply add nodes to existing infrastructure and let the software do the rest. Today's HCI solutions provide for independent scaling of compute and storage, making it possible to provision resources according to the requirements of a specific workload. This disaggregated storage model is also more efficient than legacy HCI platforms.

Streamlining Hybrid Cloud

Customers are finding that a cloud-first strategy doesn't work for every workload. Some are also repatriating cloud workloads due to security, cost, performance and regulatory compliance concerns. By moving workloads back on site, however, organizations lose the scalability of the public cloud. Repatriation can also add to management complexity.

HCI's streamlined deployment (registration required) and seamless scalability give organizations an on-site option with cloudlike features. There are also tools that integrate HCI with public cloud platforms. This allows applications to burst into the public cloud when additional resources are needed.

Facilitating Edge Computing

Spending on edge computing technology continues to increase. By moving compute resources closer to devices that generate data, edge computing provides the low latency needed for real-time decision-making. Primary use cases include Internet of Things (IoT) applications and data analytics. Challenges include limited physical space and a lack of onsite IT staff.

With a smaller footprint, reduced energy consumption, fewer hardware layers, less maintenance and simpler management, HCI is ideally suited to edge environments. Today's HCI solutions come in a range of configurations, including options designed specifically for the edge. There are also HCI platforms for smaller organizations and branch offices that require fast deployment, remote management and easy scalability.

Enabling AI Deployments

Organizations in every industry are looking to take advantage of AI to drive greater productivity and new business insights. Many are faced with modernizing their IT environments and scaling resources before they can deploy AI. About half (49%) are deploying AI using cloud-based services, according to a Deloitte study, but there are tradeoffs with the cloud model.

HCI benefits AI deployments in several ways. It bridges the gap between on-premises and public cloud environments, streamlining the flow of data. It can be deployed quickly and scaled easily to meet changing compute demands. AI workloads also benefit from the data efficiency, simplified management and resilience of HCI.

Supporting VDI

VDI is seeing renewed popularity due to remote and hybrid work models. Virtual desktops can be accessed from any device but hardened for more robust security, reducing the risk that users will access sensitive data from unsecure devices. As a result, Global Market Insights expects VDI to see a 14.4% compound annual growth rate through 2032.

HCI makes it possible to simplify VDI environments that have become difficult to scale. IT teams can allocate compute, storage and network resources to each virtual desktop and add nodes as needed. Also, because of its distributed storage architecture, HCI doesn't have the performance issues that are common when virtual desktops share storage resources.

Conclusion

According to Fortune Business Insights, the hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 24.9% through 2028 as organizations seek cost savings and operational efficiencies. Solution providers should be aware that HCI is on many customers' radars. They should also be prepared to explain the value of HCI in solving many of today's complex problems.